I never saw Demian Bichir in anything prior to The Bridge, which was great though sometimes uneven through no fault of the actors. Sadly The Bridge was cancelled too soon. At any rate, I started looking around for more of Bichir's work. Muerte En Buenos Aires/Death in Buenos Aires was available on demand with HBO, so I watched it.

What a great movie, and what a great time piece. You get the feeling for late 80s Buenos Aires (apparently, 80s nostalgia isn't just North American and British). But so many other small but interesting detailed indicators of class and politics are present in this film. The casual corruption and offering of bribes. The requirement of expensive tailored suits to hob nob with the polo set. The hush money the wealthy will pay to keep things quiet. The low pay for cops, making them vulnerable to corruption. These details are universal across cultures, whether you watch it in Spanish with subtitles or in English -- and they weave a fabric of noir into most of the film. There are also lovely, dreamy, almost surrealist touches (or magical realism?) with symbolic weight.

But the centerpiece of the film is the slow burn development and almost paranoid coming undone of Bichir's character via his deepening, and initially unwilling, partnership with Chino Darin's character. Monica Antonopoulos' character is the slightly cliche-ish female outside observer who sees way more than she lets on, but wisely stays more detached.

The climactic moment is both hard earned for one character, and a casually brutal stepping stone for the other. I can't say more without revealing spoilers... so I'll just say that this film is suspenseful, engrossing, and well worth watching. I've seen it several times "on demand" since I discovered it, and now I'm buying it. I look forward to more from director Natalia Meta.

It is the summer of 1989, a young man, El Ganso, in a rookie cop uniform (Chino Darin) sits upon the bed of a wealthy gay man, an older bachelor, Jamie Figueroa Alcorta (Martin Wullich). He has been murdered by being strangled and stabbed. El Ganso looks around the bedroom, drinks some champagne and puts on a vinyl record, Splendido. Inspector Chavez (Damian Bichir) is on his way to the scene of the crime. The female cop, Dolores Petric (Monica Antonopulos), says they got the call over an hour ago. The rookie cop is still waiting and uses a match book he found in the room. As soon as Chavez enters the room, the lights go out and he tells the rookie cop to stay there. He tells them he is Officer Gomez. Dolores says he is the young kid from the 17th Precinct. Chavez notices he doesn't even have a flash light. He tells the young officer to leave. Inspector Chavez has never left a case unsolved, just like his father. Later, Gomez arrives at the police station with the statement and sees Chavez in the men's bathroom. Gomez looks at Chavez while he is urinating in the urinal. He gives Chavez the matchbook he took from the scene of the crime. Chavez yells at him for taking them. The match book is from a gay bar. Chavez goes to the gay bar where he is looking for a suspect, Kevin (Carlos Casella). Gomez also shows up at the gay bar and Chavez accuses him of following him. Later, Gomez drives Chavez on a motorcycle chasing after Kevin. Chavez makes it home with Gomez waiting outside. Later, while Chavez and his wife are sleeping, his small, young son, Miguel (Nehuen Penzotti), takes the gun from the shoe box goes to the bed and shoots it. No one is hurt, but Gomez runs in and takes the gun from the child. Grateful for Gomez saving his life, he decides to buy Gomez a suit and let him help on the investigation. Gomez is trying to bring out some hidden feelings in Chavez by trying to kiss him. Chavez catches on and tries to resist.